Passengers disembark from a Saudi Arabia Airlines plane parked at the tarmac of Ninoy Aquino International airport in Pasay city, Metro Manila, Philippines September 20, 2016. Three corporations have expressed continued interest in participating in the bid for five regional airport projects in the country.
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

San Miguel Holdings Corporation (SMC), Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) and Megawide Construction Corporation (MWIDE) remain ever eager when it comes to bidding for several regional airport projects in the country in 2017. Both SMC and MPIC are members of the Philippine Airports Consortium while Megawide is part of the GMR-Megawide Consortium.

Nonetheless, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) is also keen on sending out some fresh invitation for other firms to join the bid that may reportedly take place during the first quarter of 2017. So far, all three companies have expressed their willingness to submit new offers when bidding for the airports gets underway one by one.

The airport projects up for bidding were first introduced during the time of the Aquino administration. These include the Bacolod-Silay Airport project worth P20.26 billion, the Iloilo Airport project worth P30.40 billion, the Davao Airport project worth P40.57 billion, the Laguindingan Airport project worth P14.62 billion and the New Bohol Airport project in Panglao worth P2.34 billion.

Originally, the Bacolod-Silay Airport and Iloilo Airport projects were bundled into one bidding package while the Davao Airport, Laguindingan Airport and New Bohol Airport projects were bundled into a second bidding package. However, the bids did not push through for either package.

San Miguel has already reiterated that they are determined to participate in the bidding in 2017.

"Yes, SMC will join all gov’t bidding to support," Business World Online reported SMC President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ramon Ang as saying.

Meanwhile, MPIC has also expressed its continued interest in the airport projects recently.

"(It) will register its interest and review the new guidelines as soon as these are made available," MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim said.

At the same time, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) has also confirmed their interest in the projects.

"We remain interested in the bidding for the unbundled airports but since these will be on new terms, we will need to study each project first," GMCAC President and Megawide Chief Marketing Officer Manuel Louie Ferrer said.

Aside from the three corporations, other companies that are already pre-qualified for the bid on the airport projects include the Maya Consortium with Aboitiz and the Filinvest-Jatco-Sojitz Consortium.

Uncertainty looms around global markets as oil prices slip Monday due to an increase in the number of rigs from West Texas Intermediate. Adding to the worry is the possible exit of Britain from the European Union (EU).